I've been cutting back on my insulin so I won't need to eat so much, but the problem with that is I need to remember not to see so much.

I went to the pool with my family over the weekend. After a fun afternoon of playing, splashing, and swimming, I enjoy a little snack of nachos. When we arrived home I wasn't feeling very well and decided to test my blood sugar.

I knew that I was going to get a high number, but what shocked me was that it was extremely high - 425 to be exact. I haven't had a number that high since I was diagnosed. It actually scared me. How could I have let this happen? I'm usually so good at keeping things on the straight and narrow.

I'm just going to have to be more careful in the future... and steer clear of the afternoon nachos.

The product itself is a disposable silicon chip that goes into the company's Maverick Detection System. Using a technology called silicon photonics, the device measures protein binding between antibodies and antigens in a single small sample. It eliminates the need for complex sample processing steps associated with current multiplexed testing, like washing, incubation and use of reagents, and delivers results within 15 minutes, the company says.

JDRF estimates that as many as 3 million Americans live with T1D, which is managed with careful attention to eating and activity, and administration of insulin injections. Symptoms often come on quickly, so diagnosis is often made in a hospital or emergency room. A biomarker test could be a helpful tool for clinicians, given that a strong pipeline of new devices and therapies for treatment of diabetes continues to advance.

"The unique capabilities of our Maverick detection platform have the potential to provide researchers and clinicians with tools to detect and track this process from an early stage, when interventions to interrupt the disease process may be feasible," said Genalyte's chief scientific officer, Martin Gleeson, in a statement.

For now, though, the panel is only available for research use. "It is our intention to continue to develop the T1D panel with the ultimate goal of providing a lab test and/or point of care test," Gleeson said in an email. "We cannot disclose timelines at this point in the development cycle."

Meanwhile, the company is also developing a series of other panels for immune-related disorders and collaborating with the Barbara Davis Diabetes Center at the University of Colorado on more advanced tools for identifying T1D.

The 6-year-old San Diego company is backed by Redmile Group, Claremont Creek Ventures and other private investors.